How did the Rise of the Berlin Wall affect East and West Germany’s economy?

Section B: Summary of Evidence

This summary of evidence has varioussources in order to explain how the rise of the Berlin wall affected Germany. A country that had been in ruin for about two decades now is on the verge of being split into two. After the end of World WarII, Germany is found in a huge conflict between the two new superpowers of the world. The countries of East and West Germany come into existence shortly after the end of the second World War in 1949.[1]Prior to this though, many crucial events occurred in history. The Yalta conference[2] of 1945 was where it was decided that Germany would be split into 4 different zones, with each zone pertainingto a different country. Those countries were the United States, Soviet Union (Russia), England and France.

The separation of the country led to conflict between the democratic west and communisteast. The city of Berlin had also been split into four different sections, the communist German Democratic Republic (GDR) in the east and the democratic Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) in the west.This led to the development of more separations such as that of governments, currencies, national symbols and thus eventually resulting in the Berlin Wall in 1961[3]. Now many factors that will affectthe countries economy start to come into play now that the Berlin wall is physically separating the two countries. For example, mass emigration[4] started to take place, about two and a half-millionpeople left East Germany because of the harsh living conditions. By 1961 GDR was losing its population and work force at an alarming rate.

The life styles between the East and West could notrelate to one another. The United States passed the Marshall plan[5], which was a plan to rebuild West Germany immediately after the end of the war. The eastern side did not have such a luxury. The...